Egg Plantation Sets Shining Eggs-ample
• Simon Mee prides himself on quality food and service.
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Signal Staff Writer
Saturday, December 3, 2005
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Mee, 32, is the owner and manager of the Egg Plantation, a breakfast and lunch eatery with a menu that includes 101 omelets.
"(Opening a restaurant) has always been a goal of mine," he said, adding that he feels he has successfully created a place featuring quality food, customer service, atmosphere and prices.
"We try to go above and beyond," he said.
The path to becoming a restaurateur was a transcontinental one for Mee.
A native of Nottingham, England, he fell in love with Southern California when visiting an uncle in the 1980s, and began nurturing a desire to relocate.
In the early 1990s, Mee bid his job at a French restaurant in England adieu and moved to California with his wife Shannon.
With an educational background in hotel management, he worked for a time as a manager at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
It was not until August of 2000 that his dreams would come to fruition, with the opening of the Egg Plantation, which was more a re-opening than a grand opening.
Mee explained that the history of the restaurant reaches back to the mid-1970s, when it was opened as the Egg Plant by Maureen Anderson, who introduced the 101-omelet menu.
In 1985, Bettie Travis and Margerie Riberdy took the helm of the eatery, changing the name to the Egg Plantation, and continued until 1995 when "a series of unfortunate events" forced them to close.
For the next five years, the space was home to an Irish steakhouse.
Mee said he drove by the restaurant numerous times and, knowing its history, thought it would be great to bring back a Newhall fixture.
Having acquired the original menu — with a few additions — and two of the original chefs, Mee opened the doors of the renewed Egg Plantation in late summer 2000.
Over the past five years, the restaurant has repeatedly been noted as a "No. 1 breakfast spot" by local magazines, and Mee said he has built a solid base of regular customers, many of whom were Egg Plantation regulars.
In addition to a host of new menu items and a full bar, Mee said while the restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch, he rents it out for private parties in the evening, which has proved popular.
He also credited much of the Plantation's success to his staff of 30.
"We have a really good crew here," he said. "We all work together, (and) it reflects on the customers."
Mee said he makes an effort to connect with customers. Indeed, on any given morning, the outgoing Brit can be seen going table to table, chatting with regulars.
Server Chris Jackson echoed Mee's sentiments about the close-knit staff.
"It's like a family place," he said, "(and) we have a good time."
Mee said good business boils down to one thing: the customer.
"We try to bend over backwards for the customer," he said. "Satisfaction is a big priority in my eyes, (and) we try to thrive on that."
The Egg Plantation is located at 24415 Walnut St., open daily from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information about holiday hours or holding a private party at the restaurant, call 255-8222.
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